Water | Resources
Why It’s Important To Have Regulation For Toxics And What We Need To Do
My guest today is Bryan McGannon. He is Policy Director for the American Sustainable Business Council (ASBC) and leads the Washington office for the organization. We’ll be talking about why the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) needs to be reformed and what is currently being done to reform it. Bryan brings a broad background in issue advocacy and political campaigns to his post at ASBC. Bryan has over a decade of experience in Washington, D.C. in advocacy roles addressing business and environmental issues. Outside of Washington, he was State Director in Ohio for the Alliance for Climate Protection’s Repower America campaign, and served on former Vice President Al Gore’s initiative to pass comprehensive climate and energy legislation. Bryan’s political campaign experience spans presidential campaigns, congressional races, and local ballot initiatives. In addition, Bryan holds a B.A. in Political Science from the University of California, San Diego. www.asbcouncil.org
TOXIC FREE TALK RADIO
Why It’s Important to Have Regulation for Toxics and What We Need to Do
Host: Debra Lynn Dadd
Guest: Bryan McGannon
Date of Broadcast: November 03, 2015
DEBRA: Hi, I’m Debra Lynn Dadd, and this is Toxic Free Talk Radio, where we talk about how to thrive in a toxic world and live toxic free.
It’s Tuesday, November 3, 2015. I’m here in Clearwater, Florida. And it’s Election Day today.
So we’re going to be talking about toxics and government regulations. And my guest today is Bryan McGannon. He’s the policy director for the American Sustainable Business Council, ASBC. You’ll probably hear ASBC all through the show today instead of American Sustainable – I can’t even say it all. American Sustainable Business Council.
And he leads the Washington office for their organization. He works with Regulations all the time, and knows all about what’s going on here, and is going to explain it all to us.
Hi, Bryan.
BRYAN MCGANNON: Hi, Debra. How are you?
DEBRA: I’m really good. How are you?
BRYAN MCGANNON: Great.
DEBRA: Good. Well, first of all, tell us how you got interested in working on environmental issues, I guess is the way. You’re coming from an environmental perspective.
BRYAN MCGANNON: I’ve been working around politics for most of my career. One of the first environmental activist jobs I had was working in California in the early 2000s on the energy crisis in California, and forced into a variety of other campaigns, that when I arrived at the American Sustainable Business Council, is when I really got to delve into toxic chemical reform. And that’s about four years now.
It has been a steep, learning curve, but it’s remarkable how complicated but clear path forward to what really needs to get done to make a cleaner and safer world, especially in the marketplace.
DEBRA: Tell us what the American Sustainable Business Council does.
BRYAN MCGANNON: We are a business organization, a business policy organization that is advocating for a sustainable, just and robust economy. Through our membership, which is a group of business organizations, as well as individual companies, a network that reaches about 300,000 small and medium-sized businesses, we advocate for policies that will build a sustainable economy whether that is energy and environment issues, toxic chemical reform.
But it also ranges from tax policy to campaign finance reforms to sustainable agriculture.
So there’s a broad brush of issues that really feed into that broader notion of building a sustainable economy.
DEBRA: So you have a lot to do.
BRYAN MCGANNON: I do. And we have a great team. Thankfully, I don’t have to do it all by myself.
DEBRA: That’s good. First of all, let’s assume that the listeners know nothing about this. So let’s start with why don’t you explain the current regulations.
There are several different regulations that refer to toxics.
BRYAN MCGANNON: There are – it’s split up into different aspects. Pesticides is governed by law that EPA implements. Chemical manufactured, just general chemicals, is under the Toxic Substances Control Act, or TSCA. Cosmetics and personal care products are under a different law, and that’s regulated by the FDA.
So it’s quite interesting who split out of things, and I’m sure there probably are some other small jurisdictions. Certainly, states have some oversight too of chemicals in their states.
But those are the big buckets of how toxics are looked at by regulators.
DEBRA: But the most important one, I think, is the people are looking at wanting to make change in is the Toxic Substances Control Act, TSCA.
BRYAN MCGANNON: That’s correct. So TSCA was a law that was enacted in 1976. It’s the same era as the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act, the major environmental bills that became law.
But the problem with the TSCA bill, the TSCA law, is that it was challenged in court and as they were trying to regulate asbestos, the court found that it’s the way the law was written had a flaw in it that basically put EPA in an analytical loop cycle.
So they could never prove beyond a reasonable doubt or they had to measure against cost benefit and so are they getting the best cost analysis – so basically, broke with the law. That case broke the law.
So EPA has had its hands tied on regulating chemicals since the mid-80s.
DEBRA: Could you explain how the government currently – I’m not quite sure how to ask this question.
So I’m an individual, and I can go to a toxicology book or to my website, or environmental working group, or many other places online, and look at studies which say x chemical produces y symptoms. And I can decide that I don’t want to be exposed to that chemical, and I can find products that don’t have it.
How does the – what seems odd to me is that why can’t the government look at those very same studies I’m looking at and everyone else is looking at, and say, “This is a toxic chemical. It shouldn’t be allowed on the market.”
BRYAN MCGANNON: So the government can look at it, they can research it, they can develop data, and many times they do. But what happens is they need the authority to take an action on those chemicals.
The TSCA law, originally, the intention of the TSCA law was to give the EPA the authority to make a regulatory judgment that chemical x that harms the human health or the environmental health, and these are the remedies that the government can take.
We can restrict it, we can ban it, limit it in certain ways in the marketplace.
Because the law doesn’t work, EPA can research – it has the capacity to research, but it can’t take an action on those chemicals.
Now, there are smaller provisions that are very arcane that give the EPA some limited access to do restricting the use of chemicals. But there has been very few – if we’re talking – bear in mind there are 60,000 to 80,000 chemicals in commerce, not all are huge right now. But [inaudible 00:08:26] as a scale of the problem.
A very few of those have been formally reviewed, and had an action. I think maybe five or six have actually been restricted.
DEBRA: Let me just say this back to you, so to make sure I heard this right. That the government doesn’t have the authority, that’s the problem. It’s not that they can’t make a decision that something is toxic, it’s that they don’t have the authority to do anything about.
BRYAN MCGANNON: The federal government, that’s correct.
DEBRA: The federal government.
BRYAN MCGANNON: Yes. So these states have stepped up, and in many cases, have filled that void with different types of laws. The big one is Prop 65 in California, which is a labeling bill, which has basically – it has shaped the marketplace, where if you have something where there’s known to be cancer-causing chemical, you have to put a safety label, a warning label on your product.
DEBRA: I know, but wait. Let’s talk about Proposition 65 for a minute.
We need to go to break in a minute but let’s start talking about this because Proposition 65, I’d lived in California when Proposition 65 first came out. And in theory, I think that it’s a really good idea. I say over and over on this show that we shouldn’t have to label things as being pure like certified organic. We should say that apple sauce has apples with pesticides on it. That that should be on the label.
And so I think the Proposition 65, in theory, is trying to do that. But what ends up happening is that sometimes they’re required to put the label on things like a little tiny part that’s on the inside of a washing machine that you’re never exposed to.
And so it’s – I think I recall that there was a label on a jar of instance iced tea once I looked at. And it’s just the consumer gets to a point where you don’t even look at it anymore. The consumer doesn’t look at all those warning and caution and all these things.
We need to go to break, and when we come back, I want to hear what you have to say about this.
You’re listening to Toxic Free Talk Radio. I’m Debra Lynn Dadd, and my guess today is Bryan McGannon. He’s the policy director for the American Sustainable Business Council, and leads the Washington office for the organization. Their website is ASBCouncil.org.
And we’ll be right back.
DEBRA: You’re listening to Toxic Free Talk Radio. I’m Debra Lynn Dadd, and my guest today is Bryan McGannon. He’s a policy director for the American Sustainable Business Council, ASBC, and we’re talking about government regulations regarding toxics.
Okay Bryan, tell us about Proposition 65.
BRYAN MCGANNON: I think what has been effective, certainly, Prop 65 has some flaws, as is all legislation. They have these unknown, unanticipated consequences. But there are finds at the Center for Environmental Health. They have a great report out that talks specifically about products that were reformulated naturally because of Prop 65.
Prop 65 did move the market, so a lot of corporations fear having that label of –
DEBRA: Yes.
BRYAN MCGANNON: – there are some things that are known that lead to cancer on their product. So they have moved and reformulated their products.
So CEH.org, the report is called State – I have it right here. Let me give you the name. State Action National Change.
So it’s a fascinating study of getting toxic chemicals out of toys. A number of companies that have reformulated, re-engineered their products, to take the perk out of their products – cleaning the solutions.
I think that despite some flaws in Prop 65, it does have a broad effect throughout the market because corporations are not inclined to make a product for California and then a different product for the rest of the country.
The California market, for example, is one of those big movers that a California company will have to address that issue.
DEBRA: That’s correct. I see that too.
So California, in a way, given that the federal government in Washington is not doing this, California has taken the lead and is making those changes. And they have other programs in California now that are evaluating other kinds of products.
We just had a change in – I forgot the number. But it’s about the fire retardants on furniture and that took effect at the beginning of this year. And so this year, we’ve seen a big change in more furniture being available without fire retardants.
BRYAN MCGANNON: The 117 [inaudible 00:16:38].
California is not alone. Washington State, Minnesota, Vermont, Connecticut, New York is, I think, undertaking an effort as well for children’s products. These are significant marketplaces that are changing the laws and they will benefit states like New Mexico and Colorado and Texas.
This actually feeds into a dynamic in the federal legislation as they’re negotiating with these last changes that I’m sure we’ll get to but [inaudible 00:17:19] because it is important to know that this state-level action does benefit the entire nation.
DEBRA: Yes, I think so.
So then if – and I would also say that I looked at websites for these states, and some of the things that they’re doing. And so anyone, any of us citizens could go there and see what are the list of chemicals that they’re working with that these states have identified chemicals that they want to eliminate from the marketplace.
And so we can then say, okay, the government in those states has determined that these chemicals are toxic, and use those as guidelines for ourselves.
I’ve actually been researching this, and I’ve been finding many, many lists.
BRYAN MCGANNON: Absolutely. It’s funny to be in some of these conversations. In the legislating process [inaudible 00:18:16] in federal level. It said let’s see what you’re talking about. You’re referring to the Washington list. Are you talking about the Minnesota list? Are you talking about the EPA work plan list?
It’s roughly the same badge of numbers of which chemicals, but they all vary, but it is a great starting point. But it does take time, and that’s – it’s not for every consumer to be able to have to do that. And that’s why it’s [inaudible 00:18:42] that the government has the authority to do the science, really found judgments on what chemicals should be restricted, and how they should be available in commerce.
DEBRA: I agree. I just wanted to ask you, off the subject here, but – and I don’t have it right in front of me, but I think, didn’t last week, didn’t the Senate decide that GMOs were safe?
BRYAN MCGANNON: They have not – there’s a bill moving through both Houses that the [inaudible 00:19:23] want to ban [inaudible 00:19:27]. It’s a bill that would restrict the states from having a labeling program for GMOs.
And so the punks on our side of the table who believe that the state should have the right to label it, called it the Dark Act. It had a hearing in the Senate Agriculture Committee.
I don’t know if that committee had actually taken a vote on it yet or not, but the democratic – the ranking member voiced their support for that. So that ensures that it will move through.
It has already passed the House. So it doesn’t look good at this point. Just like TSCA, there’s a long way to go to actually get it passed. But if you want to know what’s in your stuff that it’s not the best feeling in the world, that it’s going to be moving through the Senate.
DEBRA: Again, we get back to – and I’ll probably say this five times during the hour. When we get back to consumers needing to look for negative labeling, where it says there are no GMOs in those, instead of saying that there are GMOs.
I’ve seen some labels from Europe where they actually put on this is GMO soy. It’s GMO corn and whatever. And I think that that’s part of the ingredients.
BRYAN MCGANNON: And I haven’t worked on that issue as much, but I think that you’re onto something about that positive labeling.
And I think companies that appreciate that, it is not a skull and crossbones – we don’t want to put that on all of our products, but you do have the right to know that there are elements in this product that you should – if you want to –
DEBRA: You do. We do have the right to know.
We need to go to break, and we’ll come back and talk about this more.
You’re listening to Toxic Free Talk Radio. I’m Debra Lynn Dadd, and my guest today is Bryan McGannon. He’s the policy director for the American Sustainable Business Council, ASBC. They’re in Washington DC, and they work on policies that have to do with making the world more sustainable.
We’ll be right back.
DEBRA: You’re listening to Toxic Free Talk Radio. I’m Debra Lynn Dadd, and my guest today is Bryan McGannon. He’s the policy director for the American Sustainable Business Council, ASBC, in Washington DC. And their website is ASBCouncil.org.
Bryan, if California or another states are doing such a good job of moving us in the right direction, why do we need that [inaudible 00:26:55]regulations?
BRYAN MCGANNON: The states are taking very narrow approaches that – the Prop 65 doesn’t necessarily ban anything. It just labels things. Right now, asbestos can’t be banned under current law. Everybody knows it’s a horrible thing, and lawsuits and huge settlements have been paid out, but it is not, under TSCA, banned.
So we need a functioning system that is national, that has a basic standard that has clear, scientific process that can evaluate chemicals in commerce that has the authority to restrict.
DEBRA: I totally agree with you.
So what has been done already and why has it not succeeded? What are the problems we’re running into?
BRYAN MCGANNON: As far as the why we can’t get to that process?
DEBRA: What are we already done? I know there has been some bills introduced about TSCA reform that haven’t gone through. And so what has already been done, how long have we been working on this, and where are we now, and what needs to be done?
BRYAN MCGANNON: So efforts to reform TSCA has been underway for a number of years. There have been a number of folks that have been probably since the early 90s that have been trying to address this.
This is the one major environmental law that has not been updated.
Clean Air Act has had updates. Clean Water Act has had updates.
And so efforts at fixing TSCA have been thwarted either by chemical manufacturers that have seen the legislation as being [inaudible 00:29:05] to their business interest. So there have been legislative attempts, and where we are today is that we have probably the closest progress to getting TSCA reform done. It is not an ideal solution, but there is a potential to get some incremental progress, and get EPA the authority to start reviewing chemicals as a baseline ability.
Senator Lautenberg, the late Senator Lautenberg from New Jersey, was a champion in the Senate, and had the Safe Chemicals Act, which was a bill that a lot of the environmental health organizations as well as ASBC, had endorsed.
He eventually crafted a compromise with Senator David Vitter from Louisiana that once you scratch the surface, the compromise didn’t look so good.
Senator Udall from New Mexico has taken over for the late Senator Lautenberg and has carried a bill that has been improved but still not really where we want – we think reform should go. And that is pending on the floor of the Senate. So it’s passed out of committee and we are awaiting a full Senate vote.
Now, the House has passed a smaller, more narrow bill that basically gives EPA the authority and the obligation to review 10 chemicals a year.
DEBRA: 10 chemicals a year?
BRYAN MCGANNON: That seems like a small – a minimum 10. That seems like a small one. The Senate bill is even fewer. So these are not ideal solutions but they are incremental progress. It’s not a done deal because these two bills don’t look like each other, and as we know, in the legislative process, both sides have to agree to exact identical bills before they go to the President to be signed into law.
So there are features on both of the house bill that a lot of folks on our side believe are good features. And there are few features in the Senate bill that are good features. So the idea where the current fight stands is that we think the Senate will eventually, once they can get time on the Senate floor, they will pass their version of TSCA reform.
What we’re busy advocating for is that when they try to marry these two bills that they take the best so we can get the best possible outcome.
It’s not a great outcome, but it’s the best possible outcome in the process.
DEBRA: I just don’t understand, and you may not have an answer to this, but I want to say it anyway. I just don’t understand how so many people in the world can look at these chemicals and know that they’re toxic and decide that they don’t want them in their lives. And that the government can’t put together enough agreement.
I guess it’s agreement that if everybody in the House and the Senate could understand that these chemicals are toxic and they shouldn’t be in consumer products, and that people are dying, and that people are being crippled, and that people are getting cancer and all the things that these chemicals do.
BRYAN MCGANNON: There are two reactions to that.
So one is the original law is very complicated and that there’s a lot of detail about how to you do it. There are a lot of vested interest as well that basically want to slow that process down.
So let’s not beat it around the bush that there are losers that would, by restricting chemicals, there are people that would lose out by not having their chemical in commerce.
DEBRA: But they could do something else that’s not so toxic.
BRYAN MCGANNON: Businesses are smart and they innovate. I find that a false scenario as well. But the other reaction to [inaudible 00:33:46] is that the consumers are becoming informed, and they’re making decisions, and they’re shaping the marketplace.
A lot of members in our organization, the companies that we are working with on this fight are the ones who are being transparent or they’re disclosing what’s in their [inaudible 00:34:03]. And they’re not using those chemicals in their products.
So they are working hard to meet and increase consumer demand. And whenever I talk to members of the Congress or their staff, I always remind them that our members are working to meet this increased consumer demand because it is out there.
Parents are being more vigilant about the products they buy for their children. People who are cleaning homes or workplaces are being more vigilant about how their employees are being exposed.
That is really driving a lot of this desire to get something done in Congress.
DEBRA: Good. We’ll talk more about that when we come back.
You’re listening to Toxic Free Talk Radio. I’m Debra Lynn Dadd, and my guest today is Bryan McGannnon. He’s the policy director for the American Sustainable Business Council, ASBC, and their website is ASBCouncil.org.
We’ll be right back.
DEBRA: You’re listening to Toxic Free Talk Radio. I’m Debra Lynn Dadd, and my guest today is Bryan McGannon, the policy director for the American Sustainable Business Council, ASBC.
Bryan, when I first heard about toxic chemicals in consumer products in 1978, that was a long time ago, it was because I got really sick. And it turned out to be toxic chemicals in my home. And I said, “What? There are no toxic chemicals in my home. The government is watching out for us. I can just go into the store and buy anything I want and nothing’s toxic.”
Until I found out that wasn’t the case by getting sick.
BRYAN MCGANNON: That’s the hard way. We have a mutual friend, Barry Cik, who co-founded Naturepedic, and he tells this fantastic story that Naturepedic makes crib mattresses with no flame retardants and no toxic chemicals.
He was having his first grandchild and went into a baby store to say, “My wife sent me to get a crib mattress for our first grandchild.” And he’s got background in toxic chemicals. He looked at the label of all the products. It’s got vinyl, it’s got flame retardants, it’s got all these really bad things.
And he asked, “Where’s the more natural product?”
And the store clerk said, “If these things weren’t safe, the government wouldn’t let us sell one.”
DEBRA: He really said that?
BRYAN MCGANNON: That’s a rap that he does in every meeting we go to on Capitol Hill. It’s jaw-dropping, isn’t it?
DEBRA: It is.
BRYAN MCGANNON: I think it’s the conventional wisdom.
DEBRA: It is the conventional wisdom. It’s really hard for me to get information about – if I call a store and say, “Does this have formaldehyde in it?” They don’t know what that is.
They really don’t. And so we have all these people selling these products, and they don’t know anything about this issue.
BRYAN MCGANNON: Another aspect of chemical form is not really being addressed in the current legislation, but is vital to businesses like the ones we represent, is this transparency of the supply chain. So upstream, a few formulated product here mixing things together, and then you’re selling it. And if you don’t have clear understanding of what’s in the material you’re putting into your product, you can’t validate to your consumer that this is a clean and safe product.
DEBRA: That’s right.
BRYAN MCGANNON: So the one thing that we fight for that we’re probably not going to get this round on advocating is transparency in the supply chain. So there’s a part of the law that protects confidential business information.
So a lot of companies have been hiding behind this and they just say, “Well, we’re not going to tell you because it’s our proprietary information.”
But if you could create a transparency through the supply chain, the market would really drive companies to be really more open, and be able to say, “I know with a great degree of certainty that my product does not contain anything known to be hazardous to you.”
DEBRA: There are some companies working on it. I know Seventh Generation is a company that’s working on really understanding their supply chain. And part of the problem is that there are so many – I think a lot of consumers don’t know what I’m about to say.
I didn’t know it when I first started doing my work, which is that you can see some ingredients on the label. A lot of products don’t have ingredients even listed.
Let’s take a personal care product where it lists the ingredients.
Most consumers don’t know that those products are made because when you go the factory, it’s a barrel of this and a barrel of that, and they mix it up, like you mix the recipe in your kitchen.
But the person who is making it, the company that’s making it, all they’re doing is putting barrels of stuff together. They don’t know where that stuff came from, they don’t know what’s actually in it. It’s just x, y, z chemical.
BRYAN MCGANNON: Right, it is. And there’s a lot of – one thing I learned was that there are lot of steps in the value chain. You make know who the person you’re buying that barrel of x from, but that’s just the commodity. It could be coming from – if they don’t know where – the seller doesn’t know where it’s coming from, and they have no obligation to declare where it came from.
So it is really amazing.
Then you did the whole process with the personal care products of having – the fragrances are one of the biggest that hide some of the worst chemicals, and they don’t have to disclose, and they don’t have to tell their formulation. And that’s a real challenge, especially in the personal care products.
And even in household cleaning products, a lot of our members don’t use fragrances because they can’t validate what the materials in those fragrances are.
DEBRA: That’s so good. I know that when I’m recommending websites – part of my website is Debra’s List, where I put links to websites that sell these toxic-free products. And a lot of them are not big-named products that are in stores. A lot of them are little, tiny businesses where they are taking those ingredients from the field where they grew them, and turn them into products, so they know what it is. That’s very simple.
BRYAN MCGANNON: It really is. And a lot of the businesses in this space really did start that way. They have grown as the market has grown, but a lot of folks, the [inaudible 00:44:38] generation [inaudible 00:44:41] just a whole bunch of them have really started — [inaudible 00:44:44] Badgers are another great example where they were just mixing lip balm in their home in New Hampshire, and their products have just taken off, because, again, the demand is there.
[inaudible 00:44:59] internet. Information is available. You have access to government research. You have academic research. You have
Meet a Mum group, the Mum bloggers, are these fantastic researchers.
You don’t want to cross them. I’ll tell you that much.
DEBRA: So I think from my viewpoint, I think that we do need to have government regulations that the government should – there’s a bunch of pieces of the pie here, and it’s not just one thing or another that we need the consumers to want the products because I know way back when I first started doing this, a lot of people were saying, “Well, we would make something less toxic but nobody will buy it.”
But that’s not the case anymore.
And so consumers need to want the products, retailers need to want to sell them, manufacturers need to make them, and the government needs to ensure that there aren’t toxic chemicals. Doctors need to recognize that there are toxic chemicals making people sick, and treat them appropriately, instead of giving them drugs.
BRYAN MCGANNON: I think that’s a great way to describe it. That there are many aspects to this that we need to be active on all of them.
DEBRA: Yes, I totally agree. And consumers definitely have our part, and the manufacturers definitely have their part. So it’s great that you have so many businesses that are concerned about this.
BRYAN MCGANNON: Absolutely. It’s not every day that you have businesses saying, “We want regulations.” The typical narrative in Washington that all businesses think regulation is bad. But you know what? Well-done, well-crafted new business regulation drives innovation. It’s going to create jobs especially in the green chemistry field, which is a burgeoning field of chemistry that is built around creating chemicals that are effective, cost-competitive and reducing the toxicity of them.
And that is a huge opportunity. And so what happens if you regulate – if there are 80 chemicals on the [inaudible 00:47:18] work plant, investors and inventors will look and be able to say, “EPA is eventually going to regulate these chemicals.”
So that might be a smart place for me to go and try to find it, a substitute, or develop a substitute that I could eventually sell to replace that chemical and do it in a non-toxic way.
DEBRA: I totally agree. I was just thinking that when I made the decision so many years ago that I was going to eliminate these toxic chemicals from my life because they were making me sick, and I did, and I got well, but the thing is that I am not a scientist. I’m not an engineer. I’m not any of those things. I’m just a homemaker.
And yet, I need to wash my hair, and wash my dishes, and make my bed, and all those things. And I had to figure out how I was going to each and every one of those things without toxic chemicals, and I did. And other people have done that too.
So to me there’s no excuse for every company in the world to not do that as well.
BRYAN MCGANNON: Absolutely. It’s the future, and I think you are seeing more and more companies striving to do better in their supply chain. Some are better than others. But you are seeing, especially the big chemical manufacturers even have really big green chemistry programs because that is the – they see the writing on the wall too. The marketplace that is [inaudible 00:48:57] they realize that the government will step in, whether it’s the state government or the federal government.
It’s encouraging, and we hope it will happen faster. But it is sustainability throughout the business cycle. It’s a vital component, and I think that’s where we’re heading towards.
DEBRA: Well, thank you so much for being on the show. This has been somewhat so informative.
We’ve got about 45 seconds left. Anything you’d like to say in closing?
BRYAN MCGANNON: I want to encourage folks to get engaged. If you’re a business owner, go to ASBCouncil.org and click on our campaigns. We’ve got Companies for Safer Chemicals campaign. One of our ally organizations is the Safer Chemicals Healthy Families Coalition, and that’s a great place for individuals to get plugged in to see what’s happening and how they can get active.
That’s SaferChemicals.org.
We could use as much help as we can, and the fight is not over, and we’re going to continue to make the marketplace a good, sustainable place as hard as we can.
DEBRA: Thank you so much. You’re listening to Toxic Free Talk Radio. I’m Debra Lynn Dadd. Be well.
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Under the Nile
Cute and colorful baby clothes made from 100% organic Egyptian cotton. The company was founded in 1998 when Janice was having a hard time finding real organic cotton baby clothing. Janice and her husband Mohamed worked hard together to develop their vision for a very special organic cotton clothing company. As an Egyptian, Mohamed was familiar with the thousands-year-old tradition of cotton production in Egypt. So they went to Egypt and found a partner there to product their cotton. “No chemicals or pesticides are ever used throughout the entire cultivation and production process.”
Mountain Maus Remedies
Loose leaf teas, bulk herbs, essential oils and hydrosols, herbal tinctures, and various natural body care products made from organic ingredients. “Our herbs are all grown organically, cultivated without the use of pesticides, fertilized with organic manure from our own chickens, rabbits and little kinder goats, and the water used is from our private well which is sustained by the Nisqually River. Only 20 miles upriver is where the Nisqually begins, at the Nisqually Glacier which is located on the south side of Mount Rainier. Our method of using organic rich soil, choosing to use companion plants instead of pesticides and pure glacier water to grow our herbs, plants and flowers, may be more labor intensive, but it takes a far less toll on our environment. Through soil building, crop rotation, careful harvesting and proper composting, all of which are sustainable agricultural practices, the end result is well worth it, not to mention the product is much healthier for our bodies. All of our products are hand picked, dried, meticulously analyzed, tested for freshness, aroma and taste before we package and deliver to you. ”
Rambler’s Way Farm
“Soft, superfine wool comfortwear from the founders of Tom’s of Maine.” After nearly to years building Tom’s of Maine—one of the first makers of natural personal care products—Tom and Kate Chappell have a new venture. Their vision is “to re-imagine wool as a next-to-the-skin, superfine fabric, to warm and comfort people of all ages and walks-of-life…We create superfine worsted wool garments, while maintaining high standards of ecological responsibility, community involvement and customer satisfaction. They grow their own special breed of wool and color some of their garments with renewable, all natural dyes from herbal extracts.” For men and women.
Infusion Fibers
Beautifully simple natural fiber handmade bags, using organic cotton, vegetable tanned leather, and other natural materials of similar quality. “Infusion represents a collection of hand designed, hand sewn, high quality, natural fiber textile and leather work.,Every item is thoughtfully constructed, from start to finish, by Abby Meadow, in her home loft studio on the Oregon coast… In my work, I strive to create durable and long lasting items that are both functional and beautiful. I am drawn to natural fibers, with an emphasis on organic cotton canvas, waxed cotton canvas, hemp, and vegetable tanned leather. In my own life, I make every effort to be kind and gentle to the earth and to the life forms that live here. My work is a natural, creative extension of the things I value, and the care in which I approach life and those around me.” Wallets, backpacks, purses, satchels, and more.
Green Goo
Personal care products made in Boise Idaho by a woman who is an herbalist, organic farmer, backyard beekeeper, Certified Professional Midwife, and a Permaculturist. She and her family use” timeless herbal wisdom with Organic ingredients to produce Food for Your Skin™…We strive to bring the farm into the pharmacy by carefully selecting only the purest, most sustainable herbs and essential oils to create medicinal everyday products…Our herbs are carefully sourced from organic farmers, consciously wild crafted, or organically grown in house. We infuse our fresh and dried herbs in organic oils, rather than using premade extracts, to increase the medicinal value of our products. This enhanced process maximizes the potency of our salves taking the healing properties to the next level. We don’t just offer products that soothe and moisturize, we craft products that make a difference in your life!” Choose from products for skin care, outdoor and first aid, pet and ranch, mom and baby, and intimates.
Mustard and Co.
Mustards made with freshly ground raw organic mustard seeds. Their unique “cold” process preserves the spicy volatile oils. These are combined with premium ingredients, including organic extra-virgin olive oil, filtered water, and Jacobsen Salt Co, sea salt to make a set of mustards with vibrant flavors. “Right away, you’ll notice that our mustard is thinner than many others you’ve been accustomed to. This is primarily due to our determination to preserve the raw properties of each of the ingredients we use. In other words, we opt not to add in any thickeners or emulsifiers. You’ll recognize all of our ingredients, and what you see is what you get – fresh, raw, and bold mustard.”
Organic Seasoning Blends That Give 100% Of Profits To Artists With Disabilities
Today my guest is Debb Masterson, founder of Minnesota Nice Spice. She makes organic seasoning blends that really pop with flavor! (I’ve tried some of them) And all the profits go to helping a local organization that empowers adults with disabilities through art. Debb is a self-proclaimed spice gypsy, naturalist, and world traveler, From a young age, Debb’s affinity for creating deliciously unique recipes was evident. She learned French culinary techniques from her grandmother and became a master of substitution and experimentation when faced with limited ingredients. A diverse career path that included working in restaurants, owning a neighborhood bar and grill, and selling medical devices and beverages, supported Debb’s love of food and also sparked an interest in the healing arts, which led to Debb’s strong belief in the healing properties of everyday herbs and spices. As a risk-taker with a true entrepreneurial spirit, it’s no surprise that Debb’s current venture combines all her life and work experiences, including her love for world travel. Debb has traveled to dozens of countries seeking out native spices and global healing products and has channeled her unique experiences into each of her Minnesota Nice Spice Seasoning Blends. www.mnnicespice.com
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TOXIC FREE TALK RADIO
Organic Seasoning Blends that Give 100% of Profits to Artists with Disabilities
Host: Debra Lynn Dadd
Guest: Debb Masterson
Date of Broadcast: October 29, 2015
DEBRA: Hi, I’m Debra Lynn Dadd, and this is Toxic Free Talk Radio where we talk about how to thrive in a toxic world and live toxic free.
It’s Thursday, October 29th, almost Halloween, and 2015. I’m here in Clearwater, Florida where the sun is shining as it does this time of the year in Florida. It’s a beautiful day today.
We’re going to talk about something really delicious today. We’re going to be talking about spice blends. And one of the things that I love about spice blends is that to put clovers together actually takes some finesse. And well-trained chefs and experienced cooks can put those spices together in a way that taste good and have the proper balance.
But for those of us that aren’t as experienced or knowledgeable, it’s really nice to have a blend that tastes really good so that you can just sprinkle it on your food and that tastes Italian or Thai or Chinese or whatever.
So today my guest has made a series of spice blends with all organic spice ingredients. We’re going to be talking about that.
Her name is Debb Masterson, and she’s the founder of Minnesota Nice Spice.
Hi, Debb.
DEBB MASTERSON: Hi, Debra.
DEBRA: So nice to talk to you.
DEBB MASTERSON: Thanks for having me.
DEBRA: You’re welcome. Thanks for being here.
So I just want to tell my listeners that the first time I tried your spice blends, I just went wow because it had so much flavor in comparison to other spices. I buy single spices and I’ve used some other spice blends, but yours really are powerful flavors.
DEBB MASTERSON: Yes, thank you. A little bit goes a long way.
DEBRA: It does. It does.
So how did you become interested in doing – they’re all organic. What made you interested in organic?
DEBB MASTERSON: Well, growing up, we always had an organic garden, and we would always grow our own herbs, dry them, and mix them with spices, and make our own spice blends for fun.
As time went on, you get busy, and have a lot of work to do, and life goes crazy. So looking in the stores, there aren’t many organic spice blends. So I thought, “Well, this would be a good opportunity to put my skills of synthesizing herbs and spices, and take advantage of that with my own recipes.”
DEBRA: What made you interested in the organic aspect of it? Why not just use non-organic ingredients?
DEBB MASTERSON: A lot of people don’t know this, but a lot of herbs and spices come from all over the world, and they’re tainted with chemicals and pesticides, or are genetically modified. And I just wanted to make sure that I wasn’t putting those things in my body.
The consumers are becoming more aware of the health effects of chemicals and the pesticides. And a lot of times, the sterilization processes that are used out there include chemicals or radiation.
DEBRA: Tell us more about that because these are the kinds of the things that we don’t ever see on the label. One of the things that I talk about a lot on this show is that a lot of times there are toxic chemicals in the products that are not required to be on the label. Yet if you want it to be pure, it has to state that it’s organic and it’s certified, and all these things.
And so, tell us more about what really should be on that spice label, something like sterilization, that’s something we don’t know anything about as consumers.
So tell us more about that.
DEBB MASTERSON: Well, I do know that there are some sterilization processes with chemicals like ethylene oxide and things like that.
And that should be on the label.
Often times, things like – when they’re irradiated, which uses radiation to sterilize the herbs and spices, it’s not put on the label. So you want to look for organic products. You want it to say non-GMO. You want it to say non-irradiated. Those are things to look for.
DEBRA: So if it doesn’t say that then it’s probably likely that it is GMO and irradiated, and all of those things, even though it just looks like their herb or spice in a bottle.
DEBB MASTERSON: That’s correct. And a lot of these spices days these are – the blends are soaked with preservatives, fillers, MSG, flavor enhancers like MSG. And that should be on the label. But often times, it is not.
DEBRA: It’s not required. I thought that for food products, do spices, are they not labeled like a food product? Because for food products, we’re supposed to list all of the ingredients.
DEBB MASTERSON: Yes, and it sometimes they should be listed on all the ingredients. But often times, they’re not. For instance, if you have a gluten allergy, they’re not all gluten-free. There could be different wheats and fillers inside of the spice blends. So you really want to watch the ingredients.
DEBRA: So would it say something like – or maybe not specify it?
DEBB MASTERSON: Pardon me?
DEBRA: Would it, maybe, say filler and not specify what the filler is?
DEBB MASTERSON: No, it would say “unnatural flavors” and “other flavors.” And sometimes they will say “and other artificial flavors.”
But things can be [inaudible 00:07:22].
DEBRA: I know. So I actually have been wanting to do some research lately on what does the term “natural flavoring” mean. Is there anything you can tell us about that?
DEBB MASTERSON: Well, I’m not an expert on the natural flavoring, but what I do know is a lot of times, it will say natural flavoring, but that doesn’t mean that it’s organic, and that doesn’t mean that it is not harmful. So that’s another thing that you want to – anything like, you want to just get organic.
And if they’re gluten-free, they should say they’re gluten-free.
Often times, you’ll look for – for instance, my spice blends do not say “certified organic” although all of my ingredients are certified organic.
They’re from a certified organic supplier. But myself as a company, I’m not certified organic.
So on the front of the label, you cannot say that they’re organic. So you have to look at the ingredients panel on the back. And there on the back of the panel ingredients area is where you can say “organic oregano,” “organic basil,” “organic this,” “organic that.”
So you either want to look for certified organic on the front of the label, or you want to read the ingredients on the back and make sure that they say they’re organic.
DEBRA: So the certified organic on the front of the label – this is good that we’re talking about this because I’ve been hearing this about personal care products too that when they say organic on the label – and also with beds. You can’t call – if it says organic mattress that means that the company is certified to make an organic mattress. And that everything that they do is if it says certified organic on it.
Personal care label, so it’s the same with food. There’s a difference between the ingredient being certified and the product being certified.
DEBB MASTERSON: Yes, you’re correct. That’s right. And just organic, you want to just make sure they’re organic. Then you know that they have not been modified in any way. The pesticides, herbicides, they’re not crawling with all of those chemicals.
DEBRA: Yes. Organic is the keyword here. Organic, organic, organic.
DEBB MASTERSON: Organic, organic.
DEBRA: Well, I totally will say several times today just how flavorful your spice blends are because it was just so surprising to me when I first tasted them. It was just like, wow. And I think that people who haven’t eaten organic food don’t know about this experience of organic food tasting better.
It reminded me of many years ago when I first tasted an organic orange. And I went, “Oh, this tastes like an orange. It doesn’t taste like pesticide.”
DEBB MASTERSON: That’s right.
DEBRA: It was the same thing. And I keep having that experience over and over with organic food, having it taste like the actual food, instead of what the chemicals are.
We need to go to break. When we come back, we’ll talk more with my guest, Debb Masterson, who is the founder of Minnesota Nice Spice.
And we’ll be right back.
DEBRA: You’re listening to Toxic Free Talk Radio. I’m Debra Lynn Dadd, and my guest today is Debb Masterson. She’s the founder of Minnesota Nice Spice.
Debb, do you do some traveling and seeing what it’s like with the spices around the world?
DEBB MASTERSON: Yes. I’m a pretty avid traveler. I’ve been all over the world, tasting spices and things just for fun. It seems that you can just get spices anywhere in any old market. And because they’re fresh from – let’s say, I went to Grenada, the cinnamon, the nutmeg, the [inaudible 00:14:29].
And you can really taste the difference.
It’s like that. When you buy organic things – for instance, I buy – in small batches, I buy, 25 pounds at a time – well, it wouldn’t be small to you or the average –
DEBRA: Small for a manufacturer.
DEBB MASTERSON: Yes. It’s fresh because you’re making in small batches. Just like when you’re traveling around the world, you could taste how fresh it is where it’s grown.
So I think it’s really important when you’re making spice blends that you’re able to taste how fresh they’re supposed to taste.
So I’ve been fortunate enough to be able to travel all over the world, all the Spice Islands, and China. And just everywhere. And lots of different markets, Morocco and Spain.
It’s just wonderful.
I think that the companies that – there are few and far between in the United States that buy only certified organic ingredients. But there are a few. It’s important to buy from them. [inaudible 00:15:40] is a good one where you can get lots of certified organic ingredients.
DEBRA: And I can get those right in my local natural food store. So whenever I’m buying individual spices, I always buy them organic.
DEBB MASTERSON: Yes, it’s great. And you can really taste the difference. And you can taste how fresh they are because they’re really scrutinized.
I would say, a lot of the spice companies turn away 50% of the spices that come from all over the world just because they’re really scrutinized and tested really carefully.
DEBRA: So what are they testing for?
DEBB MASTERSON: Well, they test them for herbs – herbicides test [inaudible 00:16:22], chemicals, genetic modification, all kinds of things.
DEBRA: The organic ones, okay, I get it.
DEBB MASTERSON: They’re tested just to make sure that everything is perfectly organic, and they’re not tainted.
DEBRA: That’s good that they have that safeguard there. It seems like a lot of herbs and spices, spices particularly, are grown in other countries. I can grow a lot of herbs in my backyard. Right now, I am growing parsley and basil and [inaudible 00:16:58] flowers, and things like that.
But things like nutmeg has to come from certain countries that have certain climates. And some of those are third world countries, and anything could happen there.
DEBB MASTERSON: That’s right. You don’t know what’s in the soil either. That’s where the organic certification comes into play.
DEBRA: Tell me your most memorable spice tasting in your travels, something that really stands out for you. I know I have – one of my most memorable meals when I was traveling was when I was in Germany. My husband and I were taking this boat ride down the Rhine River.
And we stopped in this little town. And it happened to be just the week where it was the prime asparagus season. So everybody had asparagus. You just walk down the street, and every little restaurant had an asparagus special.
And we went in and we had a meal that was only asparagus, boiled potatoes and black forest ham. That’s all it was. And it was one of the most memorable meals I’ve ever had.
DEBB MASTERSON: Oh, my gosh. Of course. When I think of one of my most memorable experiences was when I was in Grenada. I went on a cruise to all of the Spice Islands, Del Monica, Grenada, Barbados and on and on.
When we were on the island of Grenada, it was really interested because there was nutmeg everywhere. And I didn’t know much about nutmeg and how the outside of the nutmeg itself, the nut, it looks like a little walnut. And you crack the outside of the nutmeg to get in the nut on the inside.
And then it’s grounded into the nutmeg that you use in your food.
So that was an amazing experience.
And then on the outside of the actual nutmeg is a little red piece, and that is mace. So it’s really interesting, all the different aspects of just one little nutmeg.
DEBRA: I don’t buy the ground nutmeg anymore. I buy the whole nut. And then I grind it – not grind, but grate it right when I use it. And it’s so fresh and it’s so fragrant. I love nutmeg.
DEBB MASTERSON: It’s amazing. It’s so good in everything. Just try tea and then in your coffee, and Alfredo sauce, and things like that.
But that was really memorable because they were making lots of things. Not only was it educational, but they were making lots of things out of the nutmeg. Necklaces, because they’re so fragrant. It was beautiful jewelry.
DEBRA: I would love a nutmeg necklace. I’m going to have to make one.
DEBB MASTERSON: And then they showed me how you can soak the nutmeg necklace in water for half an hour, and then it revitalizes the scent of the nutmeg. So it’s really awesome. I have my nutmeg necklace hanging in my kitchen. It’s just awesome.
DEBRA: What wonderful experiences. I would just love to see all these herbs and spices in their native habitats. That’s so great.
Now, when I use your products, I’m going to think about that. What a wonderful thing.
We need to go to break in about 15 seconds, so I’m not going to ask you – we’re not going to start a new question. But when we come back, let’s talk about your blends. I have some sitting here right here on my desk.
So we’ll talk about those and some other ones.
You’re listening to Toxic Free Talk Radio. I’m Debra Lynn Dadd, and my guest today is Debb Masterson. She’s the founder of Minnesota Nice Spice. And she brings her world traveling experience to make these spice blends. And we’re going to hear more about how she makes them when we come back.
DEBRA: You’re listening to Toxic Free Talk Radio. I’m Debra Lynn Dadd, and my guest today is another Debra. She’s Debb Masterson, founder of Minnesota Nice Spice. She makes these wonderful, organic, flavorful, super flavorful spice blend.
So Debb, tell us how you put together a spice blend. What’s the process of putting all those flavors together?
DEBB MASTERSON: Well, it’s truly interesting. Often times, I am inspired from a trip. For instance, I once went to the Island of Crete, which is a Greek island where my husband’s best friend is, and spent three weeks with his family, and learned the flavors of the island.
And then I come home and try to replicate different flavors in my own version.
So I’ll just put together some different herbs and spices, and experiment with them, and how they taste really good to me. And then I’ll gather two people who usually have really good flavor pallets.
For instance, my grandmother who is 97 and still has all of her taste buds. She’s been making spice blends for years. So I’ll gather her and another person or two that are really good at synthetizing flavors.
And we’ll just perfect them. Sometimes it just takes a matter of a few hours. Sometimes it takes several days.
DEBRA: I totally understand that. It’s interesting that you use the place the flavor of the place something [inaudible 00:28:13].
I think about that in terms of – I’ve done a fair amount of traveling, not as much as you. But I’ve been to Del Monica, for example.
Wonderful island. And I’ve been to various parts of the British Isles and places.
And different places do have different flavors. One of the things, when I lived in California, I lived in a rural area where there was a lot of still forest and creeks and things like that. And so the native plants were still there. There were flavors of that place, like blackberries. We had blackberries all summer.
We had fruit trees and learned that the Indians made fruit tree tea and things like that. And I was really trying to always eat the flavors of my place.
And then I moved to Florida, and it’s so suburbanized that I’m still, after 14 years, trying to figure out what is the flavor of my place.
DEBB MASTERSON: They say that different herbs and spices can taste different from country to country just because of the soil, then the way that they’re grown, and things like that. So yes, it’s really interesting.
DEBRA: And I think that people, and I’m not saying this as wrong, what I’m about to say. I think people have a lot of attention on, “I want to eat Chinese food. I want to eat Italian food” or whatever. And they don’t see what’s in their own backyard literally.
And all these flavors of all these places are those flavors because they were eating what was there.
DEBB MASTERSON: That’s right. Eating from the land.
DEBRA: Yes. So my food philosophy is a combination of I want to eat organic first of all. I want to eat local as best I can. And that’s a very tough thing to do. But I was also raised in San Francisco. So I have this international culinary viewpoint, all these flavors from all over the world because that’s what I was raised with.
And so what I’d like to do is I like to take my local ingredients, my local, organic ingredients, and then make them taste like Italy, or China, or whatever. So I’ll do something like instead of making Chinese food, I’ll make a salad and put soy sauce on it, and then it tastes Chinese.
So I really like your spice blends because I could just take any food, even if it’s organic chicken breast with the skin on it, or whatever I’m eating. And it will taste like a place.
DEBB MASTERSON: Yes, it will transport you right over into Thailand if you try the Thai spice.
And that’s really interesting because that’s how I starting coming up with the different blends. I wanted to be brought back to the places that I visited.
DEBRA: This is so wonderful because you’re – and I didn’t even know this when I invited you to be a guest. But it’s so in alignment with the way I think. And your spice blends have the authenticity of you actually being in the place and wanting to create what you tasted there, recreate what you tasted there.
And that’s very different than commercial spice blends where they just have scientists in a sterile lab and they’re putting together these flavors. And then they give a consumer taste test that has nothing to do with the original plants and the original people and the cuisine of the place.
But yours do.
DEBB MASTERSON: Thank you. The flavors are not only really authentic and unique because they are my own recipes and my own versions of flavors that I’ve been fortunate enough to be able to taste all over. But I also try to make the graphics, the photos on the jars, and the designs on the labels, to be really authentic as well, and to really stand out.
I noticed, when I first started, looking in the stores to see who had organic spice blends that the very few that were out there were very boring, the way they were just typically – you have a little leaf on them or they were green. And because – I’m not sure if your listeners know this but my proceeds help a local arts center for artists with disabilities or adults with disabilities.
So my sister is the artist on our label. There’s a great little sun logo on them. And a lot of the blends have graphics and designs on them that take you to the region or that speak of that region that reminds me of that region.
For instance, my Savory Essence has a design on the label. It was actually a photograph that I took in Morocco. It was a fabric on a chair that
I just thought was so beautiful, and I wanted to put it on my very first spice blend, which is the Savory Essence.
DEBRA: I do that too when I travel. I take pictures of things like tile floors and fabric patterns, whatever catches my eye that I think is beautiful. Just because a part of you, then those other cultures, and I really like that. I really like that. Wow.
So when we come back from the break, let’s talk about some of your – I want you to describe some of your spice blends so that our listeners know what you have to offer.
You can go to Debb’s website. It’s at MN, like Minnesota, MNNiceSpice.com. MN – it’s so hard to say that. MNNiceSpice.com.
You’re listening to Toxic Free Talk Radio. I’m Debra Lynn Dadd, and my guest is Debb Masterson, founder of Minnesota Nice Spice. And we’ll be right back.
DEBRA: You’re listening to Toxic Free Talk Radio. I’m Debra Lynn Dadd, and my guest today is Debb Masterson, founder of Minnesota Nice Spice, and the website is MNNiceSpice.com
If you go to ToxicFreeTalkRadio.com, I have some recipes where I’ve used Debb’s spice blends. And one of the things that I did was I took her Island Spice, which we’ll have her tell you about, and I put it on some gluten-free vanilla mini muffins. And what I did was I made the muffins, which are plain. But then I drizzles melted butter on top of them and put her spice on it before I baked them in the oven.
And these are so good, and they’re tasting like cinnamon toast but more complex than cinnamon. And my whole house smelled wonderful while they were baking. It was just really wonderful to smell it, and then taste it.
The recipe for this is there.
And also, I made roasted chickpeas, my own roasted chickpeas. Now, you might have seen those in bags at the natural food store. But it’s easy to make roasted chickpeas. And then I put on them her Lucy’s Pub Blend.
And it was fabulous.
If you make the roasted chickpeas, you can put any flavors you want. You can just put –use all the spice blends and have a different flavor every day.
So Debb, tell us about – well, first tell us about the Island Spice because this is the first time I’ve ever seen a dessert spice blend.
DEBB MASTERSON: I call it Island Spice Dessert blend because it’s all the flavors of the Spice Island. It’s cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, allspice, ginger and cardamom.
Some people would consider it a version of – a cross between an apple or a pumpkin spice, like a pumpkin pie spice or an apple pie spice.
But it has cardamom in it, and it’s just a really nice blend. So it’s really good on anything, any kind of crisp, like an apple crisp or rhubarb crisp, any apple or pumpkin dessert. It’s great in chai tea, oatmeal, French toast.
Just sprinkle it in yogurt.
DEBRA: Yes. You can just make any food taste like pumpkin or apple pie. It’s exactly the spices. It’s like pumpkin pie spice but better.
DEBB MASTERSON: Right but it doesn’t have any sugar in it.
For instance, right now, it’s such a big craze to have pumpkin spice latte or pumpkin this or pumpkin that. And it’s a really healthy way to get all those flavors but without the sugar. You can always add a little organic brown sugar or something if you like that.
It’s just a really nice go to for anything that you bake.
DEBRA: I actually added a little organic coconut sugar. I forgot to mention that. So I put butter, and your Island Spices, and a little sprinkle of organic coconut sugar. And what a great topping for a muffin. But I could also see baking the pumpkin.
I roast my pumpkin. I don’t eat it out of a can. I make roasted pumpkins, and I can just see taking that roasted pumpkin, and putting your spice blend on it just right there, and just not even needing to make pumpkin pie.
DEBB MASTERSON: Leading up to that another really good blend for that type of that thing is the Jammin Jerk spice. That has cinnamon, clove, thyme, paprika and garlic. And it’s amazing on pumpkin, roasted squash, sweet potatoes.
If you make your own sweet potato fries, it just gives it so much flavor.
DEBRA: I don’t have that one. That sounds really good.
So the other one that I tried was Lucy’s Pub Blend, as I said, on the chickpeas. How did that one come to be? Lucy is your sister?
DEBB MASTERSON: Lucy is my sister. And she is the artist and the inspiration for Minnesota Nice Spice. Like I said, she goes to an arts center for adults with disabilities.
She came home one day and said that they couldn’t afford their water cooler. So I wanted to help them. So I started making my own spice blends and started Minnesota Nice Spice as a way to help them.
DEBRA: And I want to say to my listeners that Debb gives 100% of her profits to this organization. Obviously, she takes out what it costs to buy the spices and stuff. But this is an entirely volunteer business for her. She’s not making any profit at all. It all goes to help this organization.
So anything that you buy from her, any of these wonderful spices that we’re talking about, it all goes to help this program, which I think is wonderful. It’s wonderful.
DEBB MASTERSON: Thank you. It was my way to give back. They actually have really tried to help Lucy transform her life. She would just vacuum carpet at a local furniture store, and not that that is a bad job, but it wasn’t really fulfilling for her.
She loves to do art. We had no idea that she even had these artistic talents until she started at this arts center. So it’s truly been a blessing. So
I really wanted to give back because all of the artists there have amazing talents.
They would all be probably stuffing envelopes if it wasn’t for this arts center. So I think it’s great.
DEBRA: That’s such a beautiful thing.
So what’s in Lucy’s Pub Blend?
DEBB MASTERSON: Well, Lucy’s Pub Blend is a sea salt-based blend. So it has sea salt, celery seed, black pepper, some granulated organic lemon and garlic, little paprika. It’s great on all of the things that Lucy likes. That’s why it’s named after her.
Lucy loves burgers and pork chops and steaks and even Bloody Mary.
DEBRA: It is like a really good seasoned salt blend that you could just put on anything, even my chickpeas, and it tastes really good.
DEBB MASTERSON: It’s very diverse.
DEBRA: Well, tell us about some of other ones that you like. Obviously, you like all of them. But what’s another one that maybe a lot of our listeners would like?
DEBB MASTERSON: The Totally Taco is my biggest seller. It’s really difficult to find organic taco seasoning, and it’s really flavorful. So people really, really enjoy it. A little bit goes a long way, so it’s full-flavored, no fillers, no preservatives of course.
Another one that I find that people really like these days is the 10,000 Lakes No-Salt Blend. And it’s called that because of the 10,000 Lakes in Minnesota that don’t have salt.
It’s really interesting because I had people accuse me of putting salt in it because it tastes so good. But it’s not. I find that garlic and citrus together really add a lot of flavor to foods without the salt. It’s real garlic and lemon forward.
DEBRA: That sounds delicious.
DEBB MASTERSON: It is really good. It is good on just about anything, in soups, on chicken, on vegetables. And you can always add a little bit of salt if you like salt. But it’s a nice option for people who are watching their intake.
DEBRA: Well, it sounds like that you have something for everyone.
DEBB MASTERSON: Yes, there are 17 blends, and again, they’re all gluten-free, and they’re 100% organic. They’re charitable, and they’re all made in small batches, so they’re super fresh. And I just love making them. [inaudible 00:47:49]
DEBRA: I’m laughing with delight because there are some things where you just get everything right about it. And there’s nothing that I could say to make your product any better. You just are doing everything right.
DEBB MASTERSON: Oh, my gosh. Thank you.
DEBRA: I wish all products – there are just some products that I just wish all products would be like, have the thoughtfulness and the end result being so delicious. And it’s just all the way down the line.
Well done.
DEBB MASTERSON: Thank you.
DEBRA: So we only have about a minute and a half left. Are there any final words you would like to say?
DEBB MASTERSON: Well, I wanted to tell you that recently, we had a revolution with our company. And we had a very – I’m not sure if you know of the Deluxe Corporation. It’s a big trucking and office company that’s local here in Minnesota. And they have this revolution going on right now. It’s a small business revolution. And they have this documentary where they go around the entire country.
And they interview different, small businesses. And they are choosing four different companies to receive $25,000 because of what they’re doing in their communities as a small business.
And they have Robert Herjavec from Shark Tank as their ambassador. He showed up with a camera crew at my door two weeks ago and gave me a check for $25,000.
DEBRA: How wonderful for you. You deserve it.
DEBB MASTERSON: They say that what goes around comes around. So all of my hard work is helping me to transform my business into a great little company, and it helps me to pay some of my insurance and the people who have been so nice to help me.
DEBRA: Thank you so much, Debb for being here, and for doing what you’re doing, and setting a good example.
You’ve been listing to Toxic Free Talk Radio. I’m Debra Lynn Dadd. Be well.
